Canon RF 24-105mm F/4-7.1 IS STM

Specifications01

MountCANON RF

Focal length24-105mm

Max aperturef/4

TypeCinema · Zoom

Release year2020

Weight395 g

Filter size67 mm

Physical length88.8 mm

Min focus distance0.2 m

Max magnification0.4

Aperture blades7

Optical elements13

Groups11

Min aperturef/7.1

AutofocusYes

StabilizationYes

Aperture controlNone The aperture is controlled from the camera

Lens hoodEW-73D - Bayonet-type petal-shaped

TeleconvertersNot compatible

Sensor coverage43.3 mm

EraDigital era

Production statusIn production

Additional Info02

SpecialIS STM

Category["Canon","Canon RF"]

Keywords["Canon","Standard","Zoom"]

Lens TypeStandard zoom lens

Review AuthorKlaus

Other Featuresimage stabilizer, control ring

Review VerdictA verdict on the Canon RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 STM IS has to be a bit more varied than usual. In absolute terms, it's clearly a sub-standard lens. Its native characteristics range from good to downright terrible. The miserable vignetting and distortions have to be seen to be believed. Conversely, the resolution is actually pretty decent - which is a bit of a pity because you just won't use this lens without auto-correction. Most users will have auto-correction activated anyway but this doesn't fix everything. Yes, the distortions are gone and the vignetting is easily acceptable. Lateral CAs are not an issue in this case as well, of course. However, the distortion correction is killing the corner resolution at 24mm. On a high megapixel camera, the corners are a pixel soup at 24mm even stopped down. The quality is surprisingly high at longer focal lengths though. That being said - it is highly unlikely that you invest thousands into a high-megapixel camera and then just a few hundred on a cheap kit zoom lens. The pixel-level sharpness increases towards lower sensor resolutions and the vast majority of users have cameras featuring 20 to 30 megapixels (as of the time of this review). Within this context, the Canon RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 STM IS makes much more sense. The 24mm setting will still not be perfect here but it's certainly usable. However, it's still worth pointing out that this lens is underdesigned. If you allow for zooming any lens below its designed minimum focal length, you will end up with black corners because the image circle has reached its limits. And this is what happened here. This is actually not a 24-105mm lens but more like a 28-105mm. Probably few would have complained if Canon marketed it like that - and our final rating would have been substantially higher. Coming back to the less philosophical thoughts - the mechanical quality of the lens is pretty good for a kit zoom lens. The used materials are of high quality. The (extending-)inner lens tube is a bit wobbly though and this seems to be a theme across Canon consumer-grade Canon lenses. The construction is also a bit simplified with its combined focus/control ring. However, that's perfectly fine within the scope of this lens. The STM AF is pretty quick (if you avoid spot AF) and the image stabilizer does a decent job. This is also needed regarding the very slow-speed nature of the lens. Of course, everything in life is a compromise, and the RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 STM IS is all about making it possible to a budget. However, if you can stretch it, you'd really be better off with the Canon RF 24-105mm f/4 USM L IS. While more expensive, it's just a better investment. If you'd like to support our work, please consider shopping for this or other lenses via one of the following partners: * Amazon US * Amazon Europe * B&H US * Adorama US * KEH US (used gear)

Review Published2021-07-15T04:22:00+00:00

Optical Construction13 sheets in 11 groups inc. 1x aspherical element

Field Notes02

Canon RF 24-105mm zoom lens for Canon RF-mount cameras, with a variable maximum aperture of f/4 to f/7.1 and built-in image stabilization for general-purpose photography.

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Catalog note · source: thelensdb